Nutrient Monitoring: Detroit River Monitoring
Sampling on the Detroit River
The Detroit River is a major contribution of flow to Western Lake Erie. However, difficulty in estimating the phosphorus load from the river has led to uncertainty in the phosphorus budget in Lake Erie. To reduce this uncertainty the USGS, in cooperation with the USEPA through GLRI, have begun depth and width integrated water-quality sampling of the Detroit River. The results of this sampling will improve estimates of nutrient load from the Detroit River to Lake Erie.
USGS collected equal discharge integrated (EDI) water sample at the Detroit River just south of the confluence with the Rouge River. Water samples will be analyzed for Nitrogen and phosphorus species as well as sediment concentration and chloride. This project is almost entirely field work and is composed of sampling the Detroit River approximately every 2 weeks while the river is free of Ice. Twenty-eight samples were collected between Feb 2018 and June 2019. Water-quality samples are available on the USGS, National Water Information System (NWIS): USGS 04168557 DETROIT R AT RIVER ROUGE, MI (1250 FT D/S R ROUGE).
Contributions
This sampling program will help resolve the questions surrounding the nutrient load estimate of the Detroit River to Lake Erie. This number has largely been estimated in the past. We can use the results of this sampling to also track the progress of restoration efforts in the upper Great Lakes and whether those efforts are manifested in nutrient load reduction at the Detroit River prior to entry into Western Lake Erie.
The Detroit River is a major contribution of flow to Western Lake Erie. However, difficulty in estimating the phosphorus load from the river has led to uncertainty in the phosphorus budget in Lake Erie. To reduce this uncertainty the USGS, in cooperation with the USEPA through GLRI, have begun depth and width integrated water-quality sampling of the Detroit River. The results of this sampling will improve estimates of nutrient load from the Detroit River to Lake Erie.
USGS collected equal discharge integrated (EDI) water sample at the Detroit River just south of the confluence with the Rouge River. Water samples will be analyzed for Nitrogen and phosphorus species as well as sediment concentration and chloride. This project is almost entirely field work and is composed of sampling the Detroit River approximately every 2 weeks while the river is free of Ice. Twenty-eight samples were collected between Feb 2018 and June 2019. Water-quality samples are available on the USGS, National Water Information System (NWIS): USGS 04168557 DETROIT R AT RIVER ROUGE, MI (1250 FT D/S R ROUGE).
Contributions
This sampling program will help resolve the questions surrounding the nutrient load estimate of the Detroit River to Lake Erie. This number has largely been estimated in the past. We can use the results of this sampling to also track the progress of restoration efforts in the upper Great Lakes and whether those efforts are manifested in nutrient load reduction at the Detroit River prior to entry into Western Lake Erie.